Broadway businesses ‘very anxious’ amid subway construction closure, says BIA head

The closure of a busy block along Vancouver's East Broadway is raising alarm from local business owners who worry the disruption could have long-term consequences.

East Broadway will be closed to all vehicle traffic between Main and Quebec streets for four months starting Monday, as work continues on the Broadway Subway Project. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit says the one-block shutdown is required to rebuild the roadway above the future Mount Pleasant SkyTrain station.

While shops will remain accessible on foot, Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association executive director Neil Wyles says business owners are already anxious after years of construction delays and declining sales.

“Everyone’s very anxious,” Wyles said. “It’s going to create a bit of chaos and a lot of hardship. Businesses are concerned about goods delivery, how is their garbage going to get picked up.”

For some, the situation recalls the impacts of the Canada Line construction in the mid-2000s. Vancouver resident Leonard Schein, whose business was affected during that project, said dozens of small businesses on Cambie Street closed because they could not survive the disruption.

“It just brings back all the feelings that myself and all the other merchants on Cambie Street experienced,” Schein said. “It’s really important to have good public transportation, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of a small number of people.”

A group of Cambie Street business owners were awarded compensation in a class-action lawsuit related to the Canada Line, but the decision was later overturned on appeal. Schein says many former business owners are still waiting for relief.

Since construction began in late 2020 to extend the SkyTrain’s Millennium Line through central Broadway, business owners along the route have repeatedly raised concerns about falling revenue. At a town hall last December, some asked the province to offer interest-free loans to help them stay afloat.

Transportation and Transit Minister Mike Farnworth has previously said compensating businesses for losses caused by public infrastructure projects is not something governments in B.C. have traditionally done. Wyles says that response is no longer acceptable.

“I’m tired of hearing that no government has ever done this before,” he said. “This is a real opportunity to step up and show leadership.”

Farnworth is scheduled to meet with Mount Pleasant business owners this week, which Wyles says is the first such meeting with a provincial transport minister since the project began.

Urban planning expert Simon Fraser University professor Andy Yan says prolonged closures can be devastating for small businesses, particularly after the economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself, but it rhymes,” Yan said. “We need these projects, but we also need to protect the small businesses that give neighbourhoods their character.”

The $2.83-billion, province-led Broadway Subway Project was originally slated for completion last year but has been delayed until at least fall 2027. When finished, the 5.7-kilometre extension of the Millennium Line will add six new underground SkyTrain stations.